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Around the World with Chlor-Alkali
Chlor-alkali is the largest end use of salt. Consumption is expected to grow. Impact of chlor-alkali on the overall salt market differs between world regions.
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Weakness of the US Chlor-Alkali Industry has Little Impact on the Overall US Salt Market
The Important Share of Chlor-Alkali in the Overall US Salt Use The US, chlor-alkali industry accounts for about a third of the countrie’s total salt consumption. Weakness of the US Chlor-Alkali Industry in Past Quarters Increasing interest rates and high inflation in the US, have dampened demand, especially for sectors Read more…
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European salt consumption decreased by 10% – Salt prices under pressure
Economic downturn stops recovery of the European chlor-alkali markets The European chlor-alkali industry had just started to recover from the drastic decline following the energy price shock. Chlorine production increased in January and February, but re-decreased in March and April with the downturn of the European chemical industry. In 2020 Read more…
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Is the Chinese Salt Import Market Slowing Down?
The Importance of the Chinese Import Market The Chinese import market is key to export oriented large scale solar salt producers in India, Australia, and Mexico. Four projects are currently under way in Australia at different stages (K+S Group – Ashburton, BCI Minerals – Mardie Salt and Potash, Leichhard Industrial Read more…
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US Chlor-Alkali Production – Slowdown of the Construction Market and Increase of Production Cost
Q3 2022 Results of Olin and Westlake Olin and Westlake, two of the largest US chlor-alkali producers published their Q3 2022 results. Both show the same patterns: Olin and Westlake increased sales revenues and income from their chlor-alkali products in the first 9 months of 2022. Both companies mention higher Read more…
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Similar but Totally Different – Impacts of Increasing Natural Gas Prices on Japanese and European Chlor-alkali Producers
When I looked up recent Japanese chlor-alkali statistics, I expected to see a decline, similar to the European production discussed in the previous blog-post https://saltmarketinfo.com/the-european-energy-crisis-is-impacting-the-salt-market/. As in Europe, natural gas has an important share in the Japanese electricity production. To my surprise, the rising cost of LNG in Japan has Read more…
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The European Energy Crisis is Impacting the Salt Market
Recent historical surges in electricity prices around the world, particularly in Europe during 2021 and in the first quarter of 2022, have emphasised the role of electricity markets in the effective functioning of industry and society. The strong correlation between electricity prices and carbon based fuels is a major concern Read more…
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Recent Trends in the Chinese Salt Market and its Downstream Chemical Uses
The chemical industry accounts for almost 90% of the Chinese salt market. In recent years, average growth rates of the two main chemical end use segments, chlorine/caustic soda, and soda ash remained on average below GDP growth. Reported production of raw salt shows a constantly decreasing trend, and increasing imports Read more…